Ah, so here is the end of my story. Short, I know. But hopefully not too bad :) Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. And thanks to Leo112 for your help.

As always, I don't own them. Never have, never will. But it soo much fun to play!

For the next few days Leo slept...a lot. They all noticed. He would fall asleep while his brothers were talking to him, or sometimes in mid-sentence while he was talking to them. Michelangelo was concerned, but Don told him that his body needed time to heal.

Leo told them that just because he had to stay in the lab for a bit, that didn't mean he had to be watched. He would be fine. Usually he would slip in and out of his slumber quietly, but there was a few times that his family was ripped from their own sleep by Leo's screaming. They would run to the lab to find him gripped in a nightmare, thrashing and fighting unseen demons. But once he was calm and ready to fall back asleep, he would insist that his family go back to their own rooms and rest.

He was starting to look a little better. The swelling in his face was going down and his eyes seemed more focused behind the purple blotches that still circled them. But he was still refusing any kind of pain medicine. Donny understood why, but that still didn't make him feel better when his brother would try to sit up and he would make strangled noises in the back of his throat. He would ask him if he want anything and he knew that the answer would be, no. Donny would leave it at that, he didn't want to force anything on Leo. He knew his brother didn't want that drug induced cloud to fog his mind again. Even Splinter refrained from adding any herbs to his tea. He knew that Leonardo could tell. They were winning his trust back and no one wanted to destroy that.

When he was awake, Mikey would sit with him and talk about comics, games, t.v. shows...anything. Leo would smile and sometimes laugh softly at his brother's antics. But he would only talk to Splinter or Donny about the time spent as Shredder's prisoner. Most memories came back after a vicious nightmare. He told them of the time he tried to escape, the beatings, Starcher's torture. The only times that he had a clear enough mind to remember.

As the weeks past, Leo got stronger and he was able to go to his own room. At first, he stayed in his room. Don came to check his stitches and Mikey brought him food. Raph had joined them a couple of times, but never visited Leo alone.

Leo slowly started to trust his family again. He joined them for dinner or watched them train in the dojo. He would try to meditate with Splinter. Little by little things started to be normal again.

Tea with Splinter.

A chess game with Donny.

An all night movie marathon with Mikey.

He could be alone with his family again...without anxiety. Everyone but Raph. Sure, Raph would join them, but Leo wouldn't be in a room alone with him. Raph couldn't figure out if Leo realized that he was avoiding him or if he subconsciously did it.

But Raph knew that had to change. He wanted his big brother back.

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Leo was putting the candles away in the dojo when Raph walked in.

"Hey, Leo," Raph called from the doorway. At one time Leo could sense his brothers' presence before they were even in the room. But his senses were off, and he was jumpy. Raph wanted Leo to trust him again. Sneaking up on him wasn't the way to get things started.

"Hey," Leo replied.

"You finished meditating?" Raph asked as he walked up to him.

Leo shrugged and glanced sideways. "Yeah, I'm finished trying for tonight."

Raph nodded. Leo was still having trouble concentrating. "You'll be able to again."

"I know," Leo said absently. His gaze fixed on the floor.

"I heard Don gave you the green light for some light training," Raph said.

Leo nodded.

"Well, Mikey's zoned out in front of the T.V. and Don's working in his lab. Do you wanna go for a run with me?"

"A run?" His eyes stayed downcast, but widened. His voice was distant.

"Yeah, well....nothing major, just get out. You know, for some fresh air."

Raph sighed and turned to leave. Leo seemed to think it was a bad idea.

He'll never trust me again.

"Well...uh, maybe some other time," Raph said over his shoulder.

He stopped when he felt his brother's hand on his shoulder.

"Some fresh air sounds great." Leo smiled.

Raph smiled back.

"Just let me get my weapons." Leo walked past him.

Raph's smile fell just a bit when he noticed the slight limp that Leo still had.

He shook his head and followed his brother out of the dojo.

"We'll be back later," Leo called to Splinter as he and Raph left the lair.

Splinter smiled at Mikey and then turned to Donatello, who was standing in the doorway of his lab.

"One step at a time." Donny returned the smile and ducked back into his lab.

---------end----------------

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I am thinking of posting another story. I started this around Halloween, so it's supposed to be scary. I have it finished, except the last chapter. Deceitful Betrayal kind of took over. But if you would like to read it, just say and I will do my best at regular updates.